Student Music Group ‘Vessel’ Seeks To Honor Christ Through Music

Seeking to reach others through Christian music and biblical messages is how Vessel has worked towards its goal of ministering to the lost and spreading the Gospel.

“It’s not really a job; it’s a mission,” Jarrisa Worst, a vocalist for Vessel, said. “We learned how to serve, and that’s what allows us to be servants.”

Vessel focuses on the ministry that comes from the music. Whether serving at a local church, a youth retreat or on campus, everything they do has the potential for impact.

“We travel to a lot of places. … They always leave notes, and it sticks out because all the places we go, they rarely ever mention the music, and they’re always about … ‘Thank you for spending time with the kids. Thank you for having that one-on-one time and sharing the Gospel through how we live and interact,’” said Jonathan Glaum, Vessel’s sound technician.  

Just as it seeks to be a light in the local community and on Liberty University’s campus, Vessel also aims to build community among its members.

“One of the first things that I noticed about Vessel before even being on the team is that there’s no rotation of musicians. … I had something similar in high school. … It was just the same group of people every single week. … That creates a really good sense of community,” Tanner Clark, Vessel’s bass guitarist said.

Each member of Vessel has a unique story about how God led them to join the group.  Clark interviewed multiple times with Vessel and other School of Music groups but was unsuccessful in getting a part. His senior year, he gave the matter up to God after not trying out for any of the worship groups, and God opened the doors for him to join Vessel.

“I think that I had grown enough as a musician to be … happy where I was. And so, I … gave it to the Lord and … about a month after the semester ended, Dr.  Lambert, our director, emailed me asking if I would be interested in playing bass, which absolutely floored me,” Clark said.

While the members of Vessel are pursuing different career paths from one another, they all agree that Vessel has strengthened their faith for their future careers.

“Wherever God is calling us to, I think it’s cool there is this diverse trajectory for each one of us,” Evan Jacobs, Vessel’s drummer said. “But at the same time, we’re all understanding that we are all developing our musical instrument, our heart as an instrument. … I think we all are trying to be vessels for honorable use.”

In addition to crediting God for their success, Worst spoke on the leadership they have received from their director.

“Dr. Lambert is one of the reasons why we understand Vessel to be Vessel. … He leads us so well, and he’s … a really good shepherd,” Worst said.

Vessel’s members desire to be vessels that can pour out God’s love for all believers to follow.

“We do music and that’s great, … but the music is not everything, and I think it’s really easy as music people to make it everything. But Jesus Christ is everything,” Worst said.

McKinnon is an arts & culture reporter for the Liberty Champion.